Cuban slugger Jose Abreu may have the most power - and prime years ahead of him - of any player to emigrate from the island. / Charles Rex Arbogast ASSOCIATED PRESS

by Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports

by Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports

Cuban players of recent vintage have erased some of the skepticism about the quality of baseball in the island, as Aroldis Chapman, Yoenis Cespedes and Yasiel Puig have enjoyed star turns in the major leagues.

If there are lingering doubts, they might be blasted away by Jose Dariel Abreu.

The slugging first baseman, who signed a six-year, $68 million contract with the Chicago White Sox less than three months after defecting in August, headlines the latest influx of Cuban talent coming to the majors and could wind up as the most influential figure in years.

Abreu, 27, twice flirted with a triple crown in the Cuban league, or Serie Nacional, and was one of the pillars of the national squad, batting .360 with three homers and nine RBI in six games of the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

"Abreu is a better hitter than either Puig or Cespedes, and he should be the best (biggest impact) Cuban player to come to the majors during the three decades of the defectors era," Bjarkman said.

The White Sox don't hold their first full-squad workout until Feb. 20, but Abreu is already in Arizona, familiarizing himself with the area and the club's spring training facility. His focus is commensurate with the team's investment in him.

Abreu's contract obliterated Puig's seven-year, $42 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the largest given to an amateur player, and it represents the biggest financial commitment the White Sox have made.

After finishing last in the American League Central in 2013, their fifth consecutive season out of the playoffs, the White Sox open camp this week with the belief they have found the successor to popular first baseman Paul Konerko. Abreu also brings a much-needed dose of excitement to a team that has seen its attendance dwindle for seven years in a row, down to 1.77 million last year.

"We've seen his big-time power to all fields, which is probably the tool for which he gets the most notoriety," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "But we really view him as an all-around quality hitter. He's very serious about his craft, prepares very well, knows the strike zone. He's up there to do damage but also gives you a quality at-bat."

Born again

Abreu said hearing about the exploits of countrymen such as Orlando "El Duque'' Hernandez, Jose Contreras and the recent wave of émigrés fomented his interest in trying his lot in the majors, and his success in the WBC convinced him he could play at the highest level.

But it was his mother, Daisy Correa Diaz, who prompted him to go for it (she also picked his unusual uniform number, 79). Abreu is believed to have left on a boat and reached Haiti before establishing residency there and gaining free agency.

"I owe it all to one person, and that's my mother. She's the one who made the decision, and we made the move at the right time," Abreu told USA TODAY Sports in a Spanish-language phone conversation. "I felt like, with all the things she'd done for me in 25years, in less than one day I could repay her and give her and my family a much better life."

That enhanced life requires major adjustments on and off the field, high among them getting used to not having several relatives nearby. Abreu hopes to soon bring to the USA his parents, sister and brother-in-law. He also has a son from a previous marriage, 3-year-old Dariel Eduardo, with whom he talks on the phone regularly.

Abreu and his wife spend time every day learning English and acclimatizing to the new culture around them. He arrived at the White Sox training camp in Glendale, Ariz., a week ago.

The White Sox have an extensive history with 16 previous Cuban players, including franchise icon Minnie Minoso, Hernandez, Contreras and current players Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo, who have helped ease Abreu's transition.

Still, he said, "It's like being born again."

Real deal

In his previous life, Abreu knew what to expect from pitchers in the Cuban league, where he was the 2010-11 MVP after batting .453 with 33 home runs and 93RBI in 66 games. In the majors, he'll be scouted heavily and his weaknesses attacked.

Not all baseball people are convinced Abreu is destined for stardom. Some scouts think he'll feast on mediocre pitching but will struggle against pitchers with high-octane fastballs, the type he rarely faced in amateur ball.

Cespedes disputes that notion. In 2010-11, his final season before defecting, Cespedes and Abreu set a league record in the 90-game Serie Nacional with 33home runs. The next season, Abreu topped that mark by two.

Cespedes, an outfielder with the Oakland Athletics and the reigning Home Run Derby champion, has no doubt Abreu's hitting ability will carry over to the majors.

"He's got a very good future," said Cespedes, who calls Abreu a four-tool player, lacking only speed.

Two other Cuban rookies - infielder Alexander Guerrero of the Los Angeles Dodgers (four years, $28 million) and right-hander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez of the Philadelphia Phillies (three years, $12 million) - also figure prominently in their teams' plans.

But it's 6-3, 255-pound Abreu who holds the most intrigue. He batted at least .344 in each of his last five seasons in the pitching-challenged Serie Nacional, and in three of those seasons he had an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of better than 1.300. By comparison, the Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera led the majors last season with a 1.078 OPS.

"It's a fairly simple stroke he has, fairly low-maintenance," Hahn said of Abreu, known in Cuba by the nickname Pito. "He's short and quick to the ball, which is going to benefit him."

Hahn said the White Sox have learned from experience to give Cuban players the freedom to be themselves and to provide them with a support system at the ballpark and away.

As much as they would like for Abreu to tear up the league right away, Hahn said the White Sox look upon him as a long-range investment who might endure an early transition period but will produce consistently in the long range.

"Abreu is definitely the real deal," Bjarkman said, "and the biggest news among all the previous Cuban defectors."